REVIEW: The BlackBerry Bold 9900 [Guest Post]
The BlackBerry Bold is currently RIM’s flagship smartphone for good reason, as it could very well be the best they have every made. It is a full-QWERTY smartphone that also offers touch capabilities, and it is faster and thinner than its predecessors. You can tell that this phone is a BlackBerry; it looks like its cousins.
Despite attractive styling and a lot of hype, it may not be all that it seems to be. How does this phone measure up, and is it worth paying out the money to buy this phone for its premium price tag?
The Good
One of the big reasons that many are drawn to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is its good looks. It isn’t skinnier than other smartphones, but it is thinner than other BlackBerries. This minimalist phone has a literal silver lining along its curved edges, and its back panel is covered with an attractive embossed polymer with a chiseled edge.
The phone is designed to keep many of its components well protected. The camera and flash are actually under glass on the back cover, which keeps these free from scratches and allows users to more easily wipe smudges away. Hidden under the battery compartment are the SIM and microSD slots as well as the speakers.
Many find the physical keyboard better than the virtual versions that many other smartphones now sport. The large QWERTY keyboard is ergonomic, comfortable and easy to use, and the keys are all shaped so that they fit the phones contoured layout. The optical trackpad is located in the center of the device between the screen and the keyboard, and it’s easy to navigate using the trackpad, maybe easier than it is to use than the touchscreen.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 features a powerful processor and ample RAM, making it faster and more responsive than the previous BlackBerry Models. Video playback and web browsing is fast and efficient. The speed makes this smartphone particularly appealing.
The Bad
The display is particularly small, particularly in relation to that of other touchscreen smartphones. The display is 2.8 inches, which may make the touch features a bit tight. The screen features an attractive high pixel density, but it is substantially less than those of other smartphones like the iPhone 4.
The camera used on the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is not the best there is. It often takes decent photos and isn’t particularly slow. The biggest problem with the camera is that it does poorly in low-light conditions and doesn’t take very good close-up shots. The camera does take HD video, but not the 1080p HD that some competitors have been offering. There is also a dedicated camera button that would be a much nicer touch if it wasn’t somewhat awkward to use.
While there are apps available for the BlackBerry Bold 9900, there aren’t as many as there are for Android and iOS powered smartphones. There are still thousands and thousands of apps available, including the usual social media apps that most smartphone users find to be an absolute necessity.
There are other common complaints. This would include the average call quality, not made any better by the speaker hidden behind the battery compartment. The battery life is not exceptional, and if you are a heavy app user, you may not be able to make it a whole day.
Conclusion
There are those that are serious BlackBerry fans, and they will love this phone, as will anyone who finds organization, functionality and speed to be of paramount importance. This is a great phone if productivity is important.
For many other folks in the market for a smartphone, this may not be the best device, particularly at the steep price the BlackBerry Bold 9900 presently sells for. Most iPhone models and Android-powered phones (particularly with contract discounts) are less costly and may excel at many things that most smartphone users want to have.
This device isn’t perfect, but it is pretty good by most accounts. Many shoppers may prefer to spend a little less on a phone with better call quality, a larger screen and more features.
[NOTE: This article is written by Kevin Moor, who also writes for tweakwindows7.net, a site emphasizing on antivirus software. The article has been reviewed and approved by an administrator of this site, but HotTips! admins may not be able to help or respond to it in full. Assistance with specific issues with any tutorial made by a Guest may not be possible if HotTips admins do not know the content in the detail that the author does, and we may not be able to help if something doesn't go right. Use at your own risk.]
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